electrons's Blog

It is obvious that many car dealerships make money through bogus maintenance and talking you into work that is not really needed, but this takes the cake….

A friend of mine got a coupon in the mail from Fred Beans Nissan for a state inspection and routine checkup. It sounded good, so he took his car into Fred Beans of Limerick to get it done. Well….. he gets a call at home from them. First they say his front tires need replacement at $150 per tire. My friend says… Oh really? You put those tires on last year. If they need replacing then you will put a new set on at no charge. They then back-pedaled and tell him that his alignment must be off that caused the excessive wear on the front tires. If you saw the tires, you’d laugh. They are in great condition! There is no visible wear at all with great tread. It gets better…. They told him how the transmission fluid looks burnt and needs changed and the car should have a 60,000 evaluation. What they didn’t know is that my fiend used to be a car mechanic. He told them to put everything back together and he will be there to pick up the vehicle and they will never see that car again in their dealership. Hats off to him!!!

He showed me a copy of the “recommendations” that they gave him. I guess calling it a recommendation covers their butts. We totaled it up and it came to almost $900 for work that was not needed. This constitutes as a scam in my opinion. Here’s what I think happened but I could be wrong. The car is registered in his wife’s name. When they called, they asked for her. Did the dealership target women, knowing they would probably give the go-ahead for the work? Luckily my friend threw it back at them and put them in their place.

So let this be a warning to all…. Not all of you have the luxury of having an ex-mechanic in the family or as a friend. Before you commit to work on your vehicle, get a second opinion from a local shop. New car sales have low profit margins. Where the money is made, is in the maintenance, but obviously Fred Beans is out to screw people. Fred Beans ought to be ashamed of themselves. Someone ought to do an investigation on bogus and fraudulent maintenance practices, but again the word “recommendations” probably cover them.

Some dealers claim “free inspections” when you purchase from them. Believe me…they will get their money from you in one way or another. I highly recommend local inspection and repair shops. Be careful out there and do not let them take you for a ride. I can’t imagine how many people fall for their tricks.